Ducks 5, Sharks 0

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Teemu Selanne tallied twice, his 498th and 499th career NHL goals, to lead the Ducks to a 5-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night at Honda Center.

"It's all about confidence," said Selanne. "When the team is playing well, everybody is playing well. Everybody put in a good effort out there. That's what makes a good club better."

Chris Pronger added a goal and an assist of Anaheim who improved their conference-best record to 15-2-5 with 35 points.

A lot of things went our way and we worked extremely hard for everything that we got," said Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle. "I'm very satisfied. It was our most complete game of the year."

Pronger broke the scoreless tie at 7:16 of the second period with a wrister from the right point. The shot found its way over the left shoulder of San Jose netminder Evgeni Nabokov and gave the Anaheim d-man his fourth goal of the season.

Two men short at the 13:16 mark of the second, Anaheim killed nearly a full two minutes down 5-on-3 allowing only one shot on goal.

"We did a tremendous job of killing that," said Ducks netminder JS Giguere who recorded his third shutout this season. "They got one shot on net and that was about it. That was great."

The Ducks used a power play of their own in the closing minutes of the second to take a two-goal advantage. Pronger set up Francois Beauchemin with a big one-time blast from the point. The shot ricocheted off the skate of Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic to Ryan Getzlaf who scored into the open net.

"We didn't expect anything easy," said Selanne. "They have a good penalty-killing unit. We had to be patient and we got the goal there [in the second period] and another one in the third. Those are the things that give you even more confidence."

Selanne gave Anaheim a 3-0 lead with at 6:28 of the third period and is now just two goals away from the 500 goal mark. Center Andy McDonald took the puck behind the San Jose net and fed a pass back to Selanne driving to the net.

Francois Beauchemin's blast from the point on the power play at 15:48 of the third period gave the Ducks a 4-0 lead. The shot deflected off San Jose defender Christian Ehrhoff and past Nabokov.

Selanne added his second goal at 17:42 of the third period to put him one goal away from the 500 mark to cap the Ducks' scoring at five.

"We play seven more games against them, so it's important, especially at home, to show we can play well against them," said Giguere. "I thought that was a great effort by our team."

The Ducks hit the road tonight and will face the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Pepsi Center before returning home to battle New Jersey the day after Thanksgiving at 1:05 p.m.

GAME LOG - ANA 5, SJ 0

20:00 - END OF GAME - ANA 5, SJ 0

17:42 - ANAHEIM GOAL - TEEMU SELANNE (7). Selanne gets a shot between the legs of Nabokov for his 499th career goal to give Anaheim a 5-0 third period lead. The assists go to Chris Kunitz and Shane O'Brien.

15:48 - ANAHEIM GOAL - POWER PLAY - FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN (3). Beauchemin's shot from the right point on the power play deflects off Christian Ehroff and past Nabokov to give Anaheim a 4-0 lead. The assists go to Shane O'Brien and Francois Beauchemin.

14:33 - SJ PEN - Rob Davison goes off for high sticking. Anaheim is 1-for-4 on the power play tonight.

6:28 - ANAHEIM GOAL - TEEMU SELANNE (6). Andy McDonald takes the puck around the SJ net on the break and feeds back in front to Selanne who nets his 498th career tally. McDonald gets the lone assist on the goal.

0:00 - Third period is under way at Honda Center.

2nd Period:

20:00 - END OF 2ND PERIOD. SHOTS ON GOAL: ANA 15-32, SJ 9-17

18:23 - SJ PEN - Christian Ehroff goes off for holding. Anaheim is 1 for 3 on the PP tonight.

17:46 - ANAHEIM GOAL - POWER PLAY - RYAN GETZLAF (8). Chris Pronger sets up Francois Beauchemin with a one-time slap shot from the point. Beauchemin's blast defects off the skate of Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and onto the stick of Getzlaf who buries the puck into a yawning net for his eighth goal of the season. Assists to Beauchemin and Pronger.

15:49 - SJ PEN - Scott Hannan gets called for holding after Anaheim kills the SJ two-man advantage. Anaheim is 0 for 2 on the power play in the game.

12:54 - ANA PEN - Scott Niedermayer gets called for tripping. San Jose is 0 for 1 on the power play tonight.

9:45 - George Parros squares off in his first fight as a Ducks against Scott Parker. Both pugilists land solid right hand punches. Both men get fighting majors.

7:13 - ANAHEIM GOAL - CHRIS PRONGER (4). Pronger rifles a wrist shot from the right point that finds its way over the left shoulder of Evgeni Nabokov to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead. The lone assist on the goal goes to Dustin Penner.

0:00 - The second period is under way. Anaheim begins the period with 0:29 of power play time left over from Carle's minor.

1st Period:

20:00 - END OF 1ST PERIOD - SHOTS ON GOAL: ANA 17, SJ 8

18:29 - SJ PEN - Matt Carle gets called for interference. Anaheim goes on their second power play - they are 0 for 1 tonight.

11:22 - SJ PEN - Kyle McLaren goes off for holding. Anaheim's power play has been 21.2% effective this season (4th NHL) and San Jose is killing at 86.5% (T-6th NHL).

7:46 - ANA PEN - Corey Perry takes the first penalty of the game - a holding minor. SJ goes on their first power play. The Sharks are operating at 24.3% with the man advantage (1st NHL) and Anaheim is killing at 84.9% (T-9th NHL).

0:00 - The first period is underway between the Ducks and Sharks at Honda Center.

Download Tonight's GAME NOTESThe top two teams in the Western Conference clash tonight at Honda Center when Teemu Selanne and the Ducks meet Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks at 7:05 p.m.

Tickets are available now. Click here to purchase tickets or visit the Honda Center Box Office prior to tonight's game. You can also purchase tickets by visiting any Southern California Ticketmaster location or by calling 714-703-2545.

Here are a few notes on tonight's contest:

DUCKS & SHARKS MEET IN ROUND ONE : The Western Conference leading Ducks (14-2-5, 33 points) host the San Jose Sharks (15-6-0, 30 points) tomorrow night @ Honda Center in the first matchup between the two teams this seasonÃ¢â‚¬Â¦the Ducks went 4-3-1 vs. San Jose last season, including a 2-1-1 mark at homeÃ¢â‚¬Â¦the Ducks have a lifetime record of 29-33-6 vs. the Sharks.

SHARK KILLER: Ducks RW Teemu Selanne is the NHL's all-time leading scorer vs. San Jose, in terms of both goals and pointsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦Selanne has 40-41=81 points in 53 career games against the Sharks, well ahead of Brendan Shanahan, who ranks second on both lists (33-31=64 points vs. SJ)Ã¢â‚¬Â¦as a member of the Ducks, Selanne has 27-25=52 points in 35 games vs. San JoseÃ¢â‚¬Â¦he was also a member of the Sharks for two+ seasons (March, 2001 through April, 2003)Ã¢â‚¬Â¦he played in 176 games with San Jose, scoring 64-67=131 points, including a team-leading 29 goals in 2001-2002.

TOPS IN THE WEST: The Ducks are off to their best start in franchise history...after 21 games, the club has earned 33 out of a possible 42 standings points with a 14-2-5 record...prior to this season, the Ducks best mark through 21 games came in 1999-2000, when the club had 10 wins and 23 points (10-8-3)...the Ducks are first overall in the Western Conference.

FINDING THE NET: The Ducks are 1st in the Western Conference with 75 team goals on the seasonÃ¢â‚¬Â¦last season, the Ducks had 55 goals through 21 games on their way to a club-record 254 team goalsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦prior to this season, the Ducks highest goal total in club history through 21 games was 71, set in 1995-96...Anaheim has scored 3+ goals in four straight games, 10 of the last 11 and 16-of-21 contests this season...the Ducks also have scored six goals on five occasions this season, after doing so eight times all of last season...at HOME, the Ducks have scored 3+ goals in eight consecutive games (34 goals) and 12 of 14 home games overall this season (49 goals).

NIEDERMAYER/PRONGER BOTH SIT ON TOP: Scott Niedermayer (5-15=20) and Chris Pronger (3-17=20) co-lead the NHL in scoring among defensemen...the Ducks defense has accounted for 14-47=61 points so far this season, the most in the NHL (Buffalo ranks second with 56 points from defensemen).

CLOSING IN ON HISTORY: Teemu Selanne is closing in on another major milestone...with 497 career goals, Selanne is looking to become just the fifth European and second player from Finland to reach 500 NHL goals...Teemu's childhood idol Jari Kurri (Finland) tops the list of top scoring Europeans with 601 goals, followed by Jaromir Jagr (600), Mats Sundin (504) and Peter Bondra (498)...Selanne would be the first player to score his 500th goal as a member of the DucksÃ¢â‚¬Â¦in addition, Selanne is just four points shy of 600 points as a DuckÃ¢â‚¬Â¦only Paul Kariya has more (669).

LETHAL LINE:

The line of Andy McDonald, Teemu Selanne and Chris Kunitz has produced 9-11=20 points in the last three games, including 5-8=13 points on Nov. 19 vs. PHX...in that game, Kunitz collected 3-1=4 points (first career hat trick), Selanne collected 0-5=5 points for his first career five-assist game (seventh five-point game of his career) and McDonald collected 2-2=4 points (tying career-high)...in the last three games, Selanne has recorded 1-7=8 points, Kunitz has collected 5-1=6 points and McDonald has scored 3-3=6 points...Kunitz leads the club with 13 goals this season.

IT ALL STARTED LAST THANKSGIVING: Last Thanksgiving, the Ducks had a record of 8-11-4 going into their Nov. 25 game vs. Detroit...since that time, the Ducks have posted a record of 49-18-13 for 111 points in 80 games (35-16-8 last year post Thanksgiving, 14-2-5 this year)...Only Buffalo (56-18-6, 118 points) and Detroit (54-16-8, 116 points) have more points since last Thanksgiving.

TAKING AIM: The Ducks have recorded over 40 shots on goal in two of the last three games and have out-shot their opponents in eight consecutive games...the Ducks have out-shot their opponents 320 (40 per game) to 176 (22 per game) over the last eight games.

POWER PLAY CLIMBING THE CHARTS: The Ducks have scored a power play goal in each of the last four games (7-for-27, 25.9%), including two power play markers in three consecutive games (6-for-22, 27.3%)Ã¢â‚¬Â¦the club now ranks third in the NHL in PP% for the season (25-for-118, 21.2%).

PENNER ONE OF LEAGUE'S TOP ROOKIES: Ducks rookie Dustin Penner is among league leaders in several categories...his seven goals on the season rank T-2nd among NHL rookiesÃ¢â‚¬Â¦he also ranks T-5th in points (11) and T-2nd in PPGs (3) & GWGs (2) among all NHL rookies.

DUCKS TOUGH AT HOME: The Ducks are 9-1-4 at home this season and 29-6-7 in their last 42 games at Honda Center dating back to last season (11/25/06)Ã¢â‚¬Â¦the Ducks posted a home record of 26-10-5 during the 2005-2006 campaign, setting a new club record for most home wins (previously 23 set in 1996-97)...the Ducks have a .672 winning percentage (72-28-28) over the last 128 home games, earning at least one point in 100 of the 128 contests at Honda Center (19-6-8 in the last 33 home games of 2002-03 season and 19-11-11 in 2003-04).

ROAD SUCCESS: The Ducks are 5-1-1 on the road this season, securing 11 standings points in the first six road games for the first time in franchise history...last season, the Ducks didn't win their fifth road game until their 17th road game of the season (Jan. 1 @ NSH).